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Sharpen Your General Knowledge

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Shamim Ansary:
What Does the Power of Attorney Mean and Where Did the Term Come From?

If you give somebody “power of attorney,” that doesn’t mean they suddenly become a lawyer.

It simply means they can legally sign papers and make decisions for you in the area in which you’ve given them that power.

In many, perhaps most, cases, lawyers are given power of attorney, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

The British have several additional terms for people who practise law.

Lawyer is a general term describing all of them. Solicitors do most of the office work, draft documents, talk to clients, and may only appear as advocates in the lower courts.

Barristers do most of the trial work, especially in the higher courts, where they are the only ones who may act as advocates.

Attorney has pretty much the same meaning in Britain as in America, one who acts on behalf of another.

Shamim Ansary:
Why is a Marathon 26.2 miles instead of exactly 26 miles and how did it originate?

The length of a Marathon is yet another distance forever changed by the British royalty.

The marathon used to be less than 26 miles. For the modern Olympics in 1896, the marathon distance was determined by the distance from Marathon Bridge, where the race began, to the Olympic stadium in Athens, 24.85 miles, or an even 40 kilometers.

In 1908, the distance was lengthened to an even 26 miles as it ran between Windsor Castle and White City stadium.

But another 385 yards were tacked on to the end so that the race could finish right in front of the royal family’s viewing box. For some reason, the 1908 distance stuck.

In 1921 the International Amateur Athletic Foundation (IAAF) officially adopted the 1908 distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (26.2 miles or 42 kilometers) as the marathon distance.

Shamim Ansary:
What Does the Word “Gymnasium” Mean in Greek and How Did the Word “Stadium” Originate?

The word gymnasium is from the Greek word gymnos, which means “nude.”

Thus, gymnasium literally means “a school for naked exercise.”

The first Olympic event for the nude male athletes, or gymnasts, was a foot race known as a stade.

It was also a Greek unit of measurement for the distance of the race, which was six hundred feet, and that is why the facility was called a stadium.

Shamim Ansary:
Can You See into the Past?

It may sound impossible, but it’s easy. You look into the past every night when you see the stars!

We measure the distance between stars in light- years. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, about six trillion miles!

When you look at a star that is ten light-years away, you’re really seeing light that left the star ten years ago, and has been traveling through space since then. That means that you’re actually looking at the star as it was ten years ago.

Astronomers have found stars that are eight billion light-years away. If you were to look at these distant stars, you would be looking far into the past, long before the earth existed.

In fact, some of the stars you look at tonight may not even exist anymore!

Shamim Ansary:
Why Do Clouds Float In the Air If They Are Made of Water?

Despite looking really weightless, clouds are actually heavy.

Even small, fluffy clouds are heavy.

The water in small clouds can weigh more than million pounds, which is more than 500 cars.

Clouds are able to float in the air because water vapor in the cloud is less dense than water in a liquid state.

Furthermore, clouds are usually formed in air that is moving upward.

So, as long as the water is in the form of tiny droplets, it floats in the warm up-currents.

It’s only when the air cools that the mist condenses into large drops and the downward pull of gravity trumps the upward push of rising air.

Then rain falls.

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